MLB News

Oct. 14 John Gibbons postgame interview

October 14, 2016

Q. Indians pitched great tonight. Russell Martin was 0-4. He's now 7 for his last 67. He's a good player in general, but he's going through a tough time. Any thought of swapping Tulo and Martin in the lineup?JOHN GIBBONS: No, because, you know, we've been playing good baseball, we've

Q. Indians pitched great tonight. Russell Martin was 0-4. He's now 7 for his last 67. He's a good player in general, but he's going through a tough time. Any thought of swapping Tulo and Martin in the lineup?JOHN GIBBONS: No, because, you know, we've been playing good baseball, we've been running a certain -- it's been working. You start screwing with things sometimes when there's not a need. It wasn't like we faced the average Joe out there and he struggled.

It was a heck of a game, it really was. Everybody went out there on the mound and pitched great. Estrada was really good. Lindor got the big blow. I think it was a changeup.

But then Kluber is one of the elite pitchers in the game, as is Miller, as is Cody Allen. If you're a fan of pitching it was a dream game for you. And we got some guys on base early, a lot of the innings, we couldn't get that big hit. Lindor got the big hit.

Q. Do you have an update on Devon, what happened with his knee? Are there possible roster repercussions?JOHN GIBBONS: They're still checking him out. He felt good going into the game. He planted and felt a sharp pain in his knee, and he wasn't able to continue. That's where we're at right now. What happens I couldn't tell you.

Q. Did you let them off the hook in the first inning? Looked like possibly Donaldson could have scored on the play, and those were maybe the two hardest hit balls of the night?JOHN GIBBONS: I think what happened on that ball Eddie hit, it was kind of a low liner, it didn't have a whole lot of air underneath it. So he's got to read it, make sure he doesn't flag it down. If it's higher in the air he's got a better judgment on it, but no. Kluber is pretty good, that's all I know.

Q. What was Kluber doing specifically to threaten you continuously?JOHN GIBBONS: One thing he's got, he's got arguably the best right-hand breaking ball in the game. And he kept us honest with enough fastballs. And he's got that razor blade slider that's tough to do anything with. A big strikeout pitch for him. He gets a lot of weak contact on them, really.

So, really, that's what it came down to. I don't think it was a lack of something we did; I just thought they pitched that well, as did we. It was just one, they got the big home run.